Need to bust the rust

last year

3 years ago, I refinished my metal entry doors. I scraped and sanded down to metal, sanded rusted areas extra well, double-primed the rust areas and the entire door(s). I had the doors sprayed with several top coats by the professional painter who was painting the rest of the house.

Now, as you can see in the photos, the rust is again breaking through. I had thrown a few dozen hours at this and really don’t want to repeat, as it hasn’t worked so well.

My question is, is there a better way to fix this than my original method? I’m thinking either a primer that is more effective than the basic primer, or an epoxy-type paint that will (with a light pre-sanding) “seal” the rust in where it is.

Thanks in advance for all suggestions.

Featured Answer

John Liu

last year

last modified: last year

You want to do this right so you’re not doing it again in three years.

Put a steel wire wheel on your drill and take the whole front of the door to shiny bare metal, not just the rusted parts, because there may be other areas of rust waiting to break out from the paint. The larger diameter wire wheels will work faster. Wear eye protection (important) and gloves.

You can try chemical paint strippers but I don’t have the patience nor have I ever been impressed with the ones sold today. I think the old, nasty, bad for your health and the earth ones were more effective - methyl ethyl ketone etc.

(Way way back when, I had a very underemployed friend who would strip the paint off refrigerators and use a wire wheel to give refrigerators an ”engine turned” look. This was before stainless steel appliances were common.)

After the door is bare metal, use rust converter on any spots still not shiny - like pitted areas. If they are badly pitted, use Bondo and sanding block to fill and smooth.

Move door to a very not dusty place - garage is ok if you vacuum then wet down the floor. Wearing latex gloves so you don’t get finger oils on the surfaces, clean the door with isopropyl alcohol or TSP or similar. Dry with a lint-free cloth, then a tack cloth, then prime and paint. Tack cloth after each coat dries, before the next one.

I don’t know much about which paint is best. Certainly not the house paint used last time. I’d listen to the folks above. Spray paint, of course. Rustolem makes a ”hammer finish” paint that is pretty cool. Get a few different cans and spray some scrap, to see what paint you like and to practice painting without bad runs or orange peel.

Lot of work. Somewhere along the way, buying a new door will seem preferable. Nice and straight, factory powder coated, shiny and new. Mmmmm that sounds better.

You know what I’d do if I did all that work and got a metal door to bare metal. I’d call around to a powder coater.

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Comments (8)

PRO
PPF.
last year
Have you considered a new door?

The cost of materials to fix this properly might exceed the price of a new door.

Strip the existing paint.

Use a rust converter/remover like Evapo-rust.

Clean the door.

Prime with a quality primer. A 2 part epoxy would work well. About $75 for a quart. Needs to be sprayed.

Apply topcoat.

There are also rust encapsulating coatings. Link for more info: https://www.google.com/search?q=rust+encapsulating
3587575 thanked PPF.
dan1888
last year

There are some alternatives.
3587575 thanked dan1888
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cat_ky
last year
Also use a rust preventive primer. Check out rustoleum.
3587575 thanked cat_ky
Seabornman
last year
An exterior steel door should be galvanized. Even the less expensive ones are. Maybe yours isn't. A new prehung door starts at $250. You may be able to get a slab that fits without replacing the frame.
3587575
Original Author
last year
It's not shown in my photos, but the total entry is double-doored, a 6' x 8' opening. We like the door style and would replace it with the exact same, but we can't find it, so I'm (maybe stupidly) intent on making the existing work.
dan1888
last year
If you decide to replace there are aluminum options. Jeld-Wen, ParcelVault, Storefront Doors USA, United Porte which could be direct and value priced.
w0lley32
last year
I would not sand the entire door down to bare metal. The door was probably steel with a thin zinc-iron plating, as most "steel" doors are, and by sanding it you might sand through the zinc plating, making it even more prone to rust.

I would sand the rusted areas down to bare metal, removing as less metal as possible. Then, clean the whole door with a good degreaser, TSP or the purple stuff, and rinse thoroughly. Let dry, then prime the areas where the bare metal is exposed with one or two coats of a primer made specifically for ferrous metals like this red oxide primer. If it does not say red oxide on the can, it's not the right primer.

Once the primer is dry according to the instructions on the can, you can give the door a very light sanding, just to smooth out the surface without removing any of the primer, and apply two coats of the paint of your choice. For optimal resistance against rust, I would recommend applying one coat of rust proof enamel before going over it with acrylic or waterborne paint.
3587575 thanked w0lley32